Home › Keynote Speaker for Corporate Events and Conferences › Annual Kickoff & Offsite
Annual Kickoff · Sales Kickoff · Sales Conference · Offsite
Keynote Speaker for Annual Kickoff and Kickoff
As Marketing Director, Thomas Daamen led Aperol to become a Love Brand in Germany. Today he brings this experience to your stage.
Keynotes on Love Brands, brand management, and motivation. With stories from a brand everyone knows, applied to your company and the motto of your event.
- ✓More than 20 years of marketing and sales at international corporations
- ✓Five keynotes, each tailored to your occasion and your motto
- ✓Present in the room from the start on request; what is said and the mood are taken up
Featured in
One of us
He knows both sides of the table
Marketing and sales, more than 20 years, including at L’Oréal Paris and Campari.
Marketing
The Marketing Director
As Marketing Director, Thomas Daamen was responsible for a portfolio of more than 25 brands, including Aperol, Campari, Averna, and Ouzo 12, and led Aperol to become a Love Brand. From 2018 he was part of the extended executive management team. He knows how a successful strategy comes about and that marketing is a total work of art made of many small parts that interlock and want to be finely orchestrated. And how much it takes until an entire organization carries them and customers do not just buy a brand but love it.
“A strong brand answers a need so accurately that the customer has no choice but to reach for it.”
Sales
The Head of Key Accounts
He started as a Key Account Manager, later headed the entire Key Account Management in grocery retail and negotiated himself with Edeka, Rewe, Lidl & Co. He knows what a crash feels like: trade partners break off cooperation to force better terms. He has come through such phases, with a cool head and staying power. Pricing-and-terms systems were his world, the field sales force his most important partner in the market. He speaks the language of your people because for a long time it was his own.
“I know how hard annual negotiations are. I conducted them myself for years.”
And your side?
He has hosted kickoffs and offsites himself
As Marketing Director, Thomas Daamen was responsible for numerous annual kickoffs and kickoffs and spoke at them himself, including as a live broadcast when in-person attendance was not possible. He has searched for and booked keynote speakers himself. He knows how long such a day is and what a room can still absorb after eight hours. And that the speaker is not the center, but the people in the room: their language, their culture, your concern.
On stage
No slide battles. No wagging finger.
Stories, told freely. Dialogues, acted out. Self-irony where it fits. From story to story the insight seeps in, until it becomes clear in the room what key message lies behind the storytelling. Thomas Daamen reads the mood in the room and responds to it. Light in tone, razor-sharp in message.
“Thomas commands the stage with such ease that it is a pleasure to listen. Absolutely worth seeing!”
“Thomas brings energy to the stage – and into people’s minds. With wit, depth, and a clear message, he combines marketing and sales into an experience that inspires and resonates. Great!”
Keynote speaker – customer SERVICE expert, business trainer, and author
“When passion meets experience, when zest harmonizes with the message, the result is a talk by Thomas Daamen. Always substantial and of excellent quality. Chapeau!”
Founder, coach, trainer, speaker, author
“Thomas Daamen walks onto the stage and the spark jumps across. His first words promise depth and are at the same time an invitation to hear more of his experiences.”
Consultant, coach, speaker · President of the German Speakers Association 2021–2023
The keynotes
Five keynotes for your annual kickoff
Every keynote is tailored to your occasion. Your motto is woven in.
The common thread
What strong brands and strong teams have in common
No marketing lesson.
Motivation with substance.
A brand is not loved because it was explained. It is loved because the people behind it caught fire themselves and carried it out until it became a wildfire. An annual strategy is no different. The spark for that jumps across at your annual kickoff.
Your audience does not have to come from the consumer goods industry to recognize itself. The mechanisms apply in mechanical engineering just as in a bank or a software house. Because they all trace back to one thing: the interplay of people.
Collaboration
From inquiry to applause
A kickoff is measured on the first working day afterward. That is why the briefing first clarifies where your people stand today and where they should stand after the event. Whether your team needs new motivation, more cohesion, clarity for a change, backing for a decision, or resilience after a tough year.
Your path to the goal with Thomas Daamen: in eight stages.
-
Stage 1
Your inquiry
You send a few key details: occasion, date, location, and audience. That is all it takes to begin.
-
Stage 2
His offer
Thomas Daamen sends you an offer and holds your preferred date. That way you can coordinate internally in peace.
-
Stage 3
Getting to know each other
A video call before booking so you get a personal impression (on request).
-
Stage 4
Your booking
You confirm the engagement. A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is of course possible.
-
Stage 5
Joint briefing
The detailed conversation covers your goals, the motto of the event, tone and culture in your company, and changes that lie behind you or ahead. That makes clear what the mood is and what the keynote should achieve.
-
Stage 6
Rebriefing
Thomas Daamen summarizes in writing how he interprets your engagement: goal, core messages, and the desired mindshift. That way you see in advance that the essence is right.
-
Stage 7
Your kickoff
Thomas Daamen gladly mingles with your audience from the first agenda item. That way current topics and the mood in the room flow into his keynote. For confidential agenda items, he leaves the room.
-
Stage 8
Debrief call
Feedback in both directions: your impression and his observations from the room. And the request to share your experience in an online review.
At a glance
Key data for your planning
Duration
Usually 30, 45, or 60 minutes
Placement
As an opener in the morning or as a finale before the evening program
Language
German or English
Setting
From the offsite in a small circle to the large hall
Region
In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. And everywhere else your team comes together.
Technology
Headset, stage monitor, and LED wall or screen. All further requirements are in the technical rider.
Frequently asked questions about annual kickoffs and kickoffs
Tell us about your annual kickoff
Occasion, date, motto: that is all it takes for the first step. The answer comes personally from Thomas Daamen.
